[SonicDawg]

I am looking to begin learning to play piano. I have ABSOLUTELY no music background whatsoever. I don't even know how to read musical scores

. So, I am looking for a Midi- keyboard that I can hook up to my PC to just start messing around with it. What are some good books to get me set in the right path from basic musical theory to piano basics, and what is a good midi - keyboard that is not too expensive but will serve the purpose well? I am looking at something at around $50. Anymore than that will just be a waste with me. Also, I still have a SB Live! 5.1 in my computer that accepts midi and have soundfont support. What kind of softwares will allow me to assign soundfonts to the midi keyboard?

 

[lionel marechal]

I guess it depends what are your goals, .

Just a quick input : If you want to learn Piano, you are going to need to put a little more than that I think. The keyboard need to have , mechanically, :
- Regular size keys
- Sensitive to dynamique
- Some sort of weight even if it does not reproduce or is close to a true piano.

Lionel

 

[bongomon]

I'm an adult (re-)beginner, started lessons about seven months ago after twenty-five years away from the piano. Played a few instruments in between.

My recommendation: TAKE LESSONS. Especially if you have minimal musical background, you want a seasoned pro to give you the fundamentals and make sure you aren't screwing yourself up too much with the inevitable mistakes you will make and then perfect with practice. Cost and time are the only real drawbacks, but you might be able to find group classes, school classes, etc. The other reason this is so helpful is that it is good incentive to keep practicing. One, you don't want to feel you are wasting your money every week; two, you don't want to embarrass yourself; third, hopefully you'll really enjoy it.

A warning, though, you may have less time for headphone paraphenalia. This is probably a good thing.

Can't help you much on the electronic keyboard angle. Guitar Center has a good variety of keyboards, and their web partner, Musician's Friend has much the same available. Best is an old fashioned piano, which you might be able to buy just as cheap off Craigslist or your newspaper's classifieds. Check out pianoworld.com's forums for more cheap advice.

 

[SonicDawg]

Thanks again for all the replies. I think that I will take a piano class from my college (UC Davis). However, I don't think that I can really afford to have a real piano at my apartment at the moment, with my other roommates who are very prone to complain of noises (my first reason of getting into headphones in the first place). So I guess now the question again comes down to what good and affordable midi keyboard I can find that is suitable for the purpose of learning while providing good practical use in the future(key weight, etc).

 

[Aryolkary]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicDawg Thanks again for all the replies. I think that I will take a piano class from my college (UC Davis). However, I don't think that I can really afford to have a real piano at my apartment at the moment, with my other roommates who are very prone to complain of noises (my first reason of getting into headphones in the first place). So I guess now the question again comes down to what good and affordable midi keyboard I can find that is suitable for the purpose of learning while providing good practical use in the future(key weight, etc).

Hi. Look for a digital piano, not a midi keyboard:
Look for "Kawai" and "Yamaha" models:
Cl20, (kawai), the Clavinova line of Yamaha, etc. I have zero experience but have read good things about them. They have weight, etc. You can use headphones so zero noise at any given time.
Good luck

 

[Rempert]

A low-end digital piano will cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of $400-$1000. I bought a Casio PX-310 recently, and I absolutely love it. Prior to that I had toiled for years on a 61-key keyboard with no weighting or pressure sensing, and it is just a completely different ballgame. Of course, this is way above your request for a $50 keyboard.

Largely, it comes down to how serious you are about this. I assume you have no intentions of being a music major or a professional pianist. If you are taking instruction at college, hopefully you would be able to reserve practice hours on a real piano at the college. That, combined with home time on a cheap 61-key board should at least give you the chance to find out whether you actually enjoy being a musician. This may be something you would want to spend some time finding out before investing hundreds in a worthy practice instrument... just like most parents will rent their children a violin for the first year to see if they quit before spending tons of money to buy one.

Without pressure sensitive, weighted keys you would develop no touch. Then you will never be a pianist, but you could be a world class organist (aside from those darn footpedals of course).

 

[rincewind]

If you're serious about learning, get an 88 key synthesizer and then GO TAKE LESSONS, as the person above says. There is no substitute for learning piano, especially are you can't read music. Guitar and some other instruments are another story, but paino (IMO) is more difficult to get "up and running".

If you like to play, then you can get a better synth/piano later down the road, and you'll have a spare/portable. I was looking at keyboards with a friend last weekend and I think anything 88 keys and weighted response ran for about $300US. Anything else and it will be a lame "toy" and possibly put u off playing more than encourage you.

 

[fewtch]

I agree, get something with at least full-size keys and that is both pressure and velocity-sensitive. As far as learning how to play, it depends on what you want to play. Reading traditional music with bass/treble clef is not always necessary... if you just want to play standards and pop tunes, there are "cheater" methods of reading music and playing that make it a lot easier, but if you want to play classical piano it can take years to get good at it, and you won't actually be playing music for quite some time. Depends what you want to do.

 

[breadnbutter]

I'm in a similar situation as SonicDawg, i.e. I have been thinking for a while about starting playing piano (after I quit playing trumpet many years ago).

The responses so far seem to imply that a digital piano is better than a midi keyboard for this purpose. I thought that one could save some money on the electronics by leaving the sound processing tasks to the computer and my 1212m, so that every buck could go into the key sensors and weighting.

Are there any midi keyboards & software packages which are on par with a dedicated digital piano?

Thank you for your advice.

 

[Rempert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breadnbutter I'm in a similar situation as SonicDawg, i.e. I have been thinking for a while about starting playing piano (after I quit playing trumpet many years ago). The responses so far seem to imply that a digital piano is better than a midi keyboard for this purpose. I thought that one could save some money on the electronics by leaving the sound processing tasks to the computer and my 1212m, so that every buck could go into the key sensors and weighting. Are there any midi keyboards & software packages which are on par with a dedicated digital piano? Thank you for your advice.

Not sure on this. M-Audio has a few possible candidates, but the one with hammer action is as expensive as a low-end Yamaha or Casio DP. The semi-weighted model might be a decent compromise.

 

[dougmwpsu]

I, also, am in this same boat. i wanted a cheap way to get a keyboard to fool around with, nothing exciting... just enough to get back into playing music. if i ever got interested in it enough down the road, i'd get a digitial piano and take lessons, but for now i only have time enough to dabble. i figured if i ever found a decent midi controller, i'd go for it... m-audio seems to make some cheap ones.

 

[gonglee]

I would recommend Casio previa electric pianos - they have audiophile sound at under $1000. Since you are an audiophile, you need good sounding one.

You can plug your good headphones into them, so you won't bother your neighbors.

You can hook them up to a computer, and get software that teaches you how to play.

I would get Bestian piano series music. You can get them on amazon.

Instead of trying to learn to play the piano, I would first go for keyboard. You only need 1 finger for the the accompaniment, which simplifies playing a lot. The Previa also allows you to record the left hand, so you can play with it, just concentrying on the right.

I would post teacher wanted in a local college or University music department - many college students teach for $25-35 per lesson.

Taking lessons is the way to go - you probably get discouraged trying to do it on your on.

Also, having lessons makes you practice.

If you take keyboard lessons, you will be jamming in a matter of months, I guerantee it - I am a music major and have tought for a few decades.

Keyboard is the way to go - and Previa sounds awsome for the price. You can get them on ebay for a good price.

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonglee I would recommend Casio previa electric pianos

Seconded. I got the Casio Privia PX-100 here a couple of pics, highly recommended.

 

[Dzjudz]

I agree with the sentiment that you can only truely learn to play the piano by taking lessons. You need someone to help you learn to read, correct your body/palm/finger positions, help you advance in level from beginner to better than beginner . I have just quit my piano lessons myself, I had been taking lessons for 12 years (I'm 20). After 2 years you start to really play musical pieces, but I feel that I played advanced pieces (Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and the likes, I like classical piano music) after about 8 years. In my last year I played really advanced compositions.

So my advice is: don't think that the ability to play difficult pieces will just magically come by. It takes a lot of practice and lessons. And also, don't get discouraged in the first year of piano lessons. You will learn the basics first (scales, super-easy music), which is a tedious process. Most people who quit playing the piano is in their first year of piano lessons. Just hang in there, the skill will come, at least with practice and a bit of talent.

Good luck!

P.S. Sorry, I don't know anything about electronic pianos (keyboards, synthesizers, what have you), I just have a 'normal' piano.

 

[milhouse6]

Ignoring your $50 budget momentarily for the benefit of the thread...

For the price, I love my M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

It costs less than most decent digital pianos (just over $400 on ebay). Its advantage over a dedicated digital piano is that you can upgrade your VST instrument source over time.

When I bought, Steinberg's The Grand was (arguably) the best available.
Then I heard Synthogy's Ivory and was inches away from buying a dedicated mac just to have it, because the wait for the port to PC was taking forever.
In the meantime, Native Instruments' Akoustik came out and I'm through the roof!
These are dramatic upgrades within just a year -- The Grand required about a gig of disk space for samples -- Akoustik requires 17.

All that being said, I encourage any new pianist of any age to learn on a real piano from a human teacher if at all possible. It's far, far easier to learn proper technique/how to get a good tone from the get-go, rather than having to un-learn bad technique down the road.

There are many things digital pianos are still years away from getting right: flutter pedal, soft pedal, sostenuto pedal and true harmonic resonance come to mind. And moreover I have yet to find a keyboard that I don't have to fight with to get good voicing (including the Keystation).

Good luck in your new venture!

(P.S. I originally tried the Keystation ES -- stay away -- the velocity curve was horrendous and individual key calibrations were all over the map!)